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Nature Fresh Farms Wins Big In The Tomato Category At This Year’s Leamington Greenhouse Vegetable Awards
The Greenhouse Competitions has been a local event that Nature Fresh Farms looks forward to every year and is always proud of placing and especially honored to earn top spots for some of their favorite varieties!
Leamington, ON (June 15th, 2021) – Greenhouse Competitions in Leamington, Ontario, made a return this year hosting its annual Greenhouse Vegetable Awards this past weekend. Showcasing the best greenhouse-grown produce from leading North American growers, family-owned Nature Fresh Farms came back to the competition, prevailing in their yearly tradition of receiving many top accolades, including overall winner of the Hottest Tomato with their newest Umami Cherry Tomato, in addition to winning the entire Bite-Sized Tomato category with their Axiany placing third, Orange Cherry receiving second, and their Umami Cherry Tomato awarded first place.
Nature Fresh Farms took home awards in the following categories:
- Best Overall Tomato
- Best Tomato on the Vine Cluster Tomato Category 1st & 2nd Place
- Best Bite-Sized Tomato Category 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place
- Best Specialty Tomato Category
- Sweetest Strawberry Category 2nd Place
- Coolest Cucumber, English Cucumber Category 2nd Place
- Hottest Tomato, Beefsteak Tomato Category 2nd Place
- Hottest Tomato, Roma Tomato Category 3rd Place
- Perfect Pepper, Orange Bell Category 2nd Place
- Perfect Pepper, Red Bell Category 2nd Place
- Perfect Pepper, Yellow Bell Category 2nd Place
The Greenhouse Competitions has been a local event that Nature Fresh Farms looks forward to every year and is always proud of placing and especially honored to earn top spots for some of their favorite varieties!
“Every year this event draws a lot of local attention with the grower base,” shared Director of Sales, Matt Quiring. “This year’s event presented us with a clean sweep on the Bite-Sized Tomato Category taking home 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in one of the most highly sought-after Tomato categories.
In addition to that, we walked away with the Best Cluster, Best Specialty Tomato, and Best Overall Tomato for the 2nd consecutive year the contest has run. It is always great validation to see that our growing processes and seed selection strategies are paying off. With this year being our first year entering into the strawberry segment, we are excited to have also received 2nd place overall proving that we will be a force to contend with in the future!”
Nature Fresh Farms is thrilled to be a Farm Level Sponsor with all funds raised from the Greenhouse Vegetable Awards going to R.E.A.C.H International. This local charity has continuously hosted this annual competition which celebrates Essex County as being the largest greenhouse industry in North America. As a recognized and registered Canadian charity, R.E.A.C.H International’s humanitarian efforts assist the poor all over the world with their main project currently in Uganda.
Lead photo: Matt Quiring (left); Benny Teichroeb (right)
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About Nature Fresh Farms -
Continuously expanding, Nature Fresh Farms has become one of the largest independent, vertically integrated greenhouse vegetable farms in North America. As a year-round grower with farms in Leamington, ON, Delta, OH, and Mexico, Nature Fresh Farms prides itself on consistently delivering exceptional flavor and quality to key retailers throughout North America, while continuing to innovate and introduce more viable and sustainable growing and packaging solutions.
SOURCE:
Nature Fresh Farms | info@naturefresh.ca T: 519 326 1111 | www.naturefresh.ca
OGVG And Blue Radix Introduce Autonomous Greenhouse Management In Ontario
The Ontario government is supporting greenhouse growers by investing over $3.6 million in 12 innovative projects to help develop new technologies
The Ontario government is supporting greenhouse growers by investing over $3.6 million in 12 innovative projects to help develop new technologies, recover from the impact of COVID-19 and enhance competitiveness and innovation.
One of these approved projects is ‘Autonomous Greenhouse Management’- a collaboration between the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) and Blue Radix, an independent Dutch AI-tech specialist for the international greenhouse industry. This project is supported through the Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative, a cost-share program funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and delivered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council.
Autonomous growing with Crop Controller
“Together with OGVG we introduce autonomous growing with Crop Controller to Ontario vegetable growers,” says Ronald Hoek, CEO of Blue Radix. “Crop Controller is a service: data models and algorithms control the greenhouse installations 24/7, supported by off-site Autonomous Greenhouse Managers with in-depth knowledge about crops, energy, and data. With autonomous steering of the greenhouse installations, the crop strategy is put into practice with artificial intelligence. Crop Controller is not developed to replace growers. The grower is still needed to define the crop strategy. Ultimately, they can manage more hectares and worry less about repetitive actions and routine thinking. The algorithms do the work for them in their daily operations.”
“We are very thankful to the Ontario government for the GCII funding of this project. It will help greenhouse businesses improve their productivity with adopting autonomous growing. Greenhouse owners are less dependent on crop experts, will have a higher operational profit while limiting their operational risks and usage of resources,” says Ronald.
Main objectives project
The project looks to meet four main objectives:
1) To research the specific needs of Canadian growers (compared to Dutch growers) related to autonomous greenhouse management and translate these needs into product features.
2) To research and implement the adjustments that must be made to improve the match of Crop Controller with different Canadian (Ontario) climate conditions.
3) To demonstrate the working of the Blue Radix data models and algorithms. This helps growers to better understand the value and adopt this new technology in their company.
4) To share knowledge with market peers and help growers to work with this new technology in their day-to-day operations.
OGVG will select three vegetable greenhouse production locations across Ontario to participate in the project. During the project OGVG & Blue Radix will share information regularly about progress and results through articles, learn ‘n’ lunch sessions, presentations and online demos.
About the GCII program
The Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative is a cost-share program, to help the sector to create, adopt and invest in innovative new technologies to reduce production costs, increase productivity and improve produce quality. Enabling operations to expand their businesses, attract new investment and create good jobs. It is delivered by the Agriculture Adaptation Council, on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
About OGVG
Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) represents approximately 200 farmers responsible for over 3,200 acres of greenhouse tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers across the province. With farmgate sales of over $1 billion in 2019, support for over 13,000 jobs, a contribution of $1.8 billion to the economy and a consistent track record of growth, the sector is a valuable economic driver for the province.
About Blue Radix
Blue Radix is an independent Dutch AI-tech specialist for the international greenhouse industry. Blue Radix creates solutions with artificial intelligence for daily decisions and actions in greenhouses. Greenhouses offer an efficient way to produce food and flowers in a sustainable manner. But the number of skilled people with expertise of growing crops in greenhouses is declining every year. This has direct impact on yield, costs, continuity and product quality. Blue Radix offers solutions for these challenges: smart algorithms which optimize and steer climate, irrigation and energy continuously and autonomously, supported by off-site Autonomous Greenhouse Managers. Always working with the grower’s unique crop strategy as a starting point. Blue Radix offers growers a digital brain for their greenhouse.
For media inquiries, please contact:
OGVG
Mr. Joseph Sbrocchi, General Manager
T 519-326-2604 or 1-800-265-6926
Email: j.sbrocchi@ontariogreenhouse.com
www.OGVG.com
Blue Radix
Mrs. Marijke van Rongen, Manager Global Marketing & Communications
T +31 6 53 43 38 39
E-mail: marijke.vanrongen@blue-radix.com
www.blue-radix.com
USA: FLORIDA - The Villages Grown: Food-As-Medicine Concept Expands In America's Largest Retirement Community
The innovative growing complex covers 85 acres with 40 acres dedicated to vertical hydroponics in controlled environment greenhouses
As consumers across the globe look for locally produced, nutritious, and reasonably priced fresh produce, The Villages Grown is rising to the challenge for Florida and is currently the largest CEA operation in the southeastern United States.
The Villages Grown LLC began as a farm-to-table, food-as-medicine initiative centered in The Villages, Florida, America’s largest retirement community with roughly 165,000 residents. The innovative growing complex covers 85 acres with 40 acres dedicated to vertical hydroponics in controlled environment greenhouses. The site also includes space for cut processing and a commercial kitchen. Using five different hydroponic techniques, The Villages Grown produces a wide variety of crops including tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens, microgreens, herbs, and other specialty products. This, according to executive director Jennifer Waxman, is one of the things that sets the company apart from other operations.
“Most CEA operations are category killers and are producing large volumes of one or 2 types of crops. They may produce only lettuce or only tomatoes, for example. At The Villages Grown, we’ve managed to crack the code on diversification and now produce tomatoes, cucumbers, microgreens, lettuces, fine herbs and specialty products, 365 days a year,” says Jennifer.
The Villages Grown has always been committed to producing nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, which it achieves through precise nutrient control and irrigation control, a combination of natural and supplement lighting, and biological control methods including Integrated Pest Management (‘IPM’). The company also conducts nutritional analyses both in-house and through third-party laboratories to ensure that its products are indeed nutritionally superior. As Jennifer explains, “if you give a plant everything it needs, it will give you everything you need.”
While The Villages Grown was initially developed to supply the retirement community with fresh produce, it has since modified its business model to become somewhat of a food hub. In addition to the 7 million lbs of produce grown annually, the company has partnered with 17 local farms and 26 artisans to aggregate local products and develop a “By Florida, for Florida” food system. The onboarding of new farms and artisans will continue to expand.
Stores & Pick-Up
The Villages Grown offers its products through its stores, with orders then delivered to pick-up locations within 2-48 hours by the company’s own delivery fleet. The company is also partnered with other key produce distributors as well as other large retail grocers to cover the state of Florida, all of which will operate on a no-inventory model to ensure that products always reach the consumer at peak freshness.
Recently, The Villages Grown announced that it has entered more hospitals, restaurant holding groups, school districts, and assisted living facilities to provide nutritionally dense products to these organizations. Moving forward, the company aims to begin producing year-round berries and other key produce items in new types of warehouse growing facilities.
For more information:
The Villages Grown
www.thevillagesgrown.com/#
Publication date: Wed 17 Mar 2021
Author: Rose Seguin
© FreshPlaza.com
USA: KENTUCKY - Appalachia Rises Telethon To Raise Funds For Flood Relief
MARCH 5, 2021 — MOREHEAD, KY — With Kentucky’s Appalachian counties in distress following historic floods, more than a half-dozen organizations have united to form a large-scale fundraising effort anchored by a 7 p.m. Monday telethon to be broadcast by CBS affiliates WKYT in Lexington and WYMT in Hazard
Nine Organizations Unite To Assist After Historic Flood
Donate Now At AppalachiaRises.org
MARCH 5, 2021 — MOREHEAD, KY — With Kentucky’s Appalachian counties in distress following historic floods, more than a half-dozen organizations have united to form a large-scale fundraising effort anchored by a 7 p.m. Monday telethon to be broadcast by CBS affiliates WKYT in Lexington and WYMT in Hazard.
Within hours of rainfall beginning to slow on March 1, more than a dozen counties had already declared states of emergency. Representing more than 175,000 Appalachians, the counties were soon joined by far more, as the dramatic need became clear as floodwaters wiped out entire communities through Kentucky. Residual effects, including mudslides and infrastructure collapse, have left many residents uprooted and, in some cases, homeless with essential businesses also closed due to damage. Compounding the difficulties, the unemployment rates in several affected counties are among Kentucky’s highest. Evacuations across the state have also driven thousands to overcrowded and underfunded shelters, while hospitals treat flood-related injuries alongside the ongoing pandemic.
Launched by Morehead-based AgTech leader AppHarvest, the Appalachia Rises initiative has brought together more than a half-dozen organizations, including the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, Appalachian Impact Fund, Appalachians for Appalachia, Blue Grass Community Foundation, WKYT, WYMT, and New Frontier Outfitters. To donate to the flood relief fund, visit https://appalachiarises.org with all proceeds being distributed by the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky and Blue Grass Community Foundation. Funds will be targeted to individuals needing emergency relief, farmers, and small businesses.
Building up to Monday’s 7 p.m. telethon, which will feature musical performances and inspirational addresses by notable Kentuckians, Appalachia Rises will be staging a number of community outreach initiatives.
Supporting comments
Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky Executive Director Gerry Roll: “The Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky is the only nationally accredited community foundation located in and exclusively serving Eastern Kentucky. Dollars raised with our partners at the Appalachia Rises Fund will be used to help with immediate long-term recovery. The Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky has already begun making emergency relief grants to individuals in crisis and are gearing up to make grants to small family farmers and small, local businesses with relief efforts that will continue throughout the year. We understand that recovery takes time and different forms of support. We live here and work here. And we will be here for our communities once the floodwaters subside.”
VIDEO: Kentucky Greenhouse Company AppHarvest Goes Public On Nasdaq As It Prepares To Grow
AppHarvest has estimated it will generate net revenue of $21 million in 2021. The company is expected to produce 45 million pounds of tomatoes annually. AppHarvest employs 300 Eastern Kentuckians
FEBRUARY 03, 2021
AppHarvest has estimated it will generate net revenue of $21 million in 2021.
The company is expected to produce 45 million pounds of tomatoes annually. AppHarvest employs 300 Eastern Kentuckians.
David Wicks, Nasdaq’s vice president of new listings, said he was “incredibly proud to be your partner and look forward to supporting your innovation as a NASDAQ listing company” in a video message Monday.
Founder and CEO Jonathan Webb eats an AppHarvest tomato in a video message displayed in Times Square on Monday.
Two weeks ago, AppHarvest shipped its first bundle of tomatoes from its flagship location in Morehead.
“All this noise that is happening around us — listing on the Nasdaq and being shown in Times Square, selling our tomatoes to the largest grocers in the U.S. — all that is resonating back on the ground inside of our facility where our employees are feeling the positive impact of the work we’re all doing together,” Webb said.
The beefsteak tomatoes are selling out at grocers around the country.
“We can’t grow fast enough,” he said. “Our tomatoes are hitting store shelves and flying off the store shelves. It’s not just Kentucky, it’s everywhere from Indiana, all the way down to Florida.”
Webb said the company’s job now is to build faster and grow more vegetables to get on store shelves.
The company continues to look throughout Eastern Kentucky for building sites, Webb said, but there are challenges.
“We just have to find a place to build,” he said. “We have the capital. We want to build there, but building on these reclaimed coal mine sites are incredibly challenging and very expensive to try to make work. We would love to be there.”
The first greenhouse was originally planned for Pikeville, but AppHarvest said the site, a reclaimed strip mine, was not feasible for construction. After about two years of delays, AppHarvest announced its decision to relocate to a 350-acre parcel about two miles off I-64 near the Sharkey community of Rowan County.
Webb said they continue to invest in Pike County with a container farm at Shelby Valley High School. AppHarvest has two other farms at schools in Rowan and Breathitt counties.
The company aims to have 12 facilities growing and supplying fruits and vegetables by 2025. AppHarvest already announced a Berea facility to grow leafy greens and a Richmond facility to grow vine crops.
“One massive impact of 12 facilities is we’re going to have hundreds of millions of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables pouring out of our region,” Webb said. “Not only the economic benefits of that, but the health benefits are tremendous. We’re in a situation where not many companies can say they feel incredibly proud of the product they produce and we do that.”
The first AppHarvest tomatoes will be in grocery stores by Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.
Photos: COURTESY OF APPHARVEST
Liz Moomey is a Reporter for America Corps member covering Eastern Kentucky for the Lexington Herald-Leader. She is based in Pikeville.
Spill the Greens - Mucci Farms Launches Podcast
Canadian Mucci Farms is launching a podcast called Spill the Greens
To connect the dots between greenhouse operations and their customers, Canadian Mucci Farms is launching a podcast called Spill the Greens. “We think it’s important for people to know who we are, and see this platform as an opportunity to introduce retailers and consumers to our amazing team through education and information about the greenhouse industry,” says Ajit Saxena with Mucci Farms.
“To many people, we are a brand or a product, but behind the logos and packaging there is a team of 1400 people dedicated to growing, packing, shipping and marketing high quality fresh produce. We hope to provide transparency through this platform, with an aim to increase awareness and consumer loyalty,” Saxena added. After months of research and preparation, the official launch is today, August 18.
How did the idea for a podcast start off? Saxena explained that Mucci Farms is always looking for new ways to enhance its online presence and marketing. “As a forward-thinking company, we regularly consider new digital opportunities to reach people, and given the current circumstances, that effort has undoubtedly increased,” Saxena shared. “Prior to working in produce, I worked in Radio Broadcasting for 6 years so the podcast space was naturally intriguing, but I wasn’t sure if we could create enough content for an engaging show worthy of a regular listenership.”
In February of this year, some of Mucci Farms’ marketing team members attended United Fresh’ Brandstorm event. One of the sessions at the event was called the Power of Podcasting which highlighted the benefits of the platform. “As we listened to the panelists, it became clear that we needed to take a deeper dive into the opportunity and really take a look at how much content we could create. It was obvious that this was a rising platform. After the event, we went home to Kingsville, did our research and then presented our findings to our team.”
Podcast host Ajit Saxena and Mucci's CEO Bert Mucci.
Research was convincing
Nielsen had a lot of real-time data on podcasts available. “There were a surprising amount of statistics that pointed to our general target demographic as big consumers of podcasts,” said Emily Murracas, Director of Marketing at Mucci Farms. “It was eye-opening to learn that the podcast platform is growing more rapidly than YouTube,” she added. “We were convinced it was a good idea and without hesitation, green lit the effort to begin its development.”
Today, earlier than planned, Mucci Farms launches its very first episode. “Originally, we were going to launch closer to PMA Fresh Summit,” said Murracas. “However, when circumstances changed in mid-March, and much of the world shifted online, it made sense for us to move up the date.”
Bridging the gap between grower and consumer
The main purpose of the podcast series is to bridge the gap between greenhouse operations and their customers, including retail buyers and end consumers. “More than ever before, consumers want to know where their food comes from and a podcast will allow us to provide detailed information in full context without time constraints,” commented Saxena. “With Spill the Greens, our goal is to educate retail staff and consumers on what we do, how we do it, and what the benefits are of greenhouse-grown produce.”
The first three episodes will feature Mucci Farms owners, starting with CEO Bert Mucci in today’s first episode. Spill the Greens can be found on Spotify, Apple, Google, and Stitcher, but also by going to a dedicated website: www.spillthegreens.com.
For more information:
Ajit Saxena
Mucci Farms
Tel: (+1) 519-326-8881
asaxena@muccifarms.com
www.muccifarms.com
By Marieke Hemmes | Tue 18 Aug 2020 | HortiDaily
